Packaging



J. w. BELL April 12; 193811 PACKAGING Filed Oct. 51, 1933 Inventor- John W. B el I v WK His/Attorney Patented ApnlZ, 1938 I omen, STATES j 5 Claims.

Q My invention relates to packaging pulverous or ground products and particularly to packaging coffee forretail distribution.

' 'I aim'by my invention to provide a means whereby coffee may be distributedbyretailto consumersln convenient packages without substantial deterioration due to exposure to the air and conveniently used: by the consumer in, small quantities as desired" over an-extended period of 6 time without-material deterioration'whilef the package is beingused' up. Iaim to accomplish the above purposes and-alsoprovide a package which is strong, compact,*'attractive Iof low f It is recognizedthat th'e aroma 'andflavor of (roasted coffee are due "to the presence offlan es- I sentialoilif n exposure to the air this oil which contains a free fatty acid, takes up oxygen which causes it to become rancid, destroyingthe aroma and flavor and causing it to become unpalatable. The degree of deterioration is'a function of the tent of surface exposedpandthe freedom of circulation 'of freshair over the exposed surface.

To avoid oxygenation of roasted coiIee and consecustoma'ry practice for a consumer to buy unroasted coilee bearfs androast and grind them in his own home. To avoid the diflicultiesof home roasting another practice has been for'the re taller to stock the roasted coifee beans, and grind them for the customer when sold tohim. This does not remove the burden "on theyretailerto keep his stock fresh and moreover -the ground qujantityin the handsjof the purchaser rapidly deteriorates as iti's' being-used" up. The commercial desirability of distributing GOfiee Lin its roasted ground form whereby it may be/uniformly roasted and blended by a manufacturer.

1] 4o has ledto various attempts to offset the rapid deterioration which takes place when thefcofiee is in its ground form with the consequent enormous increase in surface exposed to the air. One suchattempt consists in the roasted blended and 5 u d coffee being sealed, in j containers impervious to the air and distributed'to retailersin this form. .A large amount of air is present in the voids and deterioration takes place to some exam.- Some'manufacturers take precautions by 50 way ofsupervision of the "age of stocks kept by the retailers to assure] that: their branded prod-v uctswhich have become s'talejare not sold to' the consumer, This method, has "no eflect' ,.o n the rapiddeterioration offthe coffee when the"con I 55 sumer'open's the sealed package and exposes the age has beeni completely consumed. My inventime; of exposureof the cofie'e t'o theair, the exquent deterioration' of the pro'duct it ha's been a I (01. sci-171) product to fresh air with "the result that unless the whole package is used promptly the quality of the coflee gets worse and worse as the package is used.

Another attempt consistsinsealing the. roasted I blended andpulverizedcoilfeein containers from which the air has been evacuated or replaced by an inert gas. This methodlikewise has the disadvantage thatas soon'as' the'packageis opened the voidsare immediately fllledwithair and deterloration in the hands '01 the consumer takes place as previously mentioned. I My invention onthe other hand-not only provides a means whereby ground coffee may reach the consumer witha minimum of deterioration but also assures that when the consumer purchases a package, it may be conveniently used in smallquantities from time to time withoutma:

terial deterioration of the remainder ti ll the packtion also provides'a package whichisineirpensive, readily handled, compact and-,"at tractive ap pearance. Further advantages of my invention will become apparent as the description proceeds,

In accordance" with my invention I compress the ground coiieeinto an elongated cylindenim sert the cylinder intoa seamless tubeof tough,

'flexible'material which is impervious to airand moisture, and w'hichmay be readily outwith a knife. H g which with the shrinkage Oi -the tube if desired and aslater described, fills the tube very, tightly. The ends of the cylindrical unit thus formed are protected preferablyby capsof metal orotl'ler material which frictionally engage the-outer walls i of the cylinder. e

\ In the drawing Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically an apparatus whereby my method of, packaging coffee maybe carried out, some of the partsbeing shown in cross section; Fig. 2 shows a packed 4 unit as prepared by the apparatus of Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 shows in cross section the unit of Fig.2

completed by the addition of end caps.

Referring to the drawing i0 represents a multiple mold box having a plurality of cylindrical 5 molds ll openfat bo th ends." The mold box is placed on the flat charging table 12 and filled with" freshly roasted, blended and ground coffee.

.The mold box isthen moved alongthesurface of the table till it is in T the position indicatedin the drawing beneath the rams 13; The rams are part of ahy'draulicpress generally indicated at l4 and which is suitably supported above the charging table 12. A hood ISthr ughthetop of which the rams are slidable, is loweredjover the 5 The compressed coffee expands slightly 0 2 mold box. A suitable gasket is provided between the mold box and the hood to assure an air tight joint. The air is now withdrawn from beneath the hood through the exhaust line i6. As the coffee in the mold is in loose pulverized form, the

air 1518.150 withdrawn from the voids or is recoffee from its loose powdered form to a compact cylindrical unit of about forty percent of its original volume and having a small proportion of voids. As the compression starts any air remain-j ing in the loose coffee will be trapped to some extent and compressed. Preferably the degree of.

exhaust used should be such that the pressure of the air in the voids of the compressed bricks is approximately atmospheric pressure. After compression the rams l3. are elevated and the hood raised. The charging box is now moved to discharge position shown in the drawink] in dotted lines to the right of the charging position. In this position the inoldsare inregister with a seriesof openings l lfin the work table. Beneath thelwork table in this position is a removable discharge tray i8 having depending therefrom a plurality of tubes 19 open at both ends, corresponding in .number to the molds. When the tray is in the position illustrated the tubes I! are in register with the openings. l1. Each tube has a container 20 tightly fitting having one closed end. The hydraulic discharging mechanism generally indicated by 2 l is now operated and its rams 22 enter theimolds I i engage thecompressed units and projec them through the openings I I in the, work table i2 into the tubes. IS. The compressed'unit then {encounters theclosed end" of thecontainer 20QFurther movement of the 'rams then ex els'the compressed unit from the loading tube carrying the container with and around 'it. The unitds'then' conveyed away and dried in a current ofwarm air. The material which I prefer to use for the con-.-

to airand water and is easily outwith ajknife. Before loading the container tubes ongthe discharge tubes they are preferably soakediina mixcontainer around it, the coffee slowly swells. The containing tube also "shrinks when drying which, in conjunction with the swelling of the coffee, causes the flexible containing tube to very tightly embrace and confine the coffee.

Fig. 2 illustrates the coffee package as delivered from the unloading machine. To each end of the package I apply a suitable protective cap 24 as illustrated in Fig. 3,which shows a cross. section of the package of Fig. 2 with caps applied at upper and lower end. The cap '24has a downwardlv depending flange 25 which engages the side wall of'thepackage. An inwardly extending bead. 26 provides aline contact. This provides a tightioint which prevents the ingress of air to the exposed top ofthe compressed unit.

Packages of coffee in-accordance with my inventionare compact, occupying less storage and shelf space than packages of ground cofiee in its loose form. Due to the evacuation of air in packaging and the highly compressed state little air is present in the package to cause deterioration. The impervious outer shell and tightly fitting cap prevents the circulation of further air. The re sult is that my p ckage can be stocked by retailers for a longtime without material deterioration. The most'a irnportant advantage, however, is that when purchased by the consumer, he may use the'cofiee a small amount at a time over an extended period with little deterioration of the remainder of the package between times. In use the consumer removes the protective cap and ground form. The material of the side wall of the container is cut off with the coflee by means of the ordinary household knife and without the necessity of any special tool. When the quantity desired is removed the exposed surface of the remainder of the package is hard and compact and air cannot penetrate into the bulk of thejremaining coffee. The lid is pressed down on the short- .ened package,.making a tight joint with the side.

and preventing the circulation of fresh air over the newly exposed top surface. The consumer can in the above manner, continue to use the package till it is all used. Any small deterioration which takes place will be confined to a thin layer. on the newly'exposed top and the bulk of the remaining product is not afiected. If the package is usedfdaily the deterioration is not enough to be noticeable. If, however, the package is left for an inordinately long time, a thin layer maybe scraped from the upper surface and discarded when the package is opened. Thus any deteriorated coffee in these circumstances is confined to .a definite limited surface where it can be removed with little waste and leaving the balance unaffected. i

' As I have described my invention the air is evacuated from the loose cofiee before compression. The higher the degree of vacuum obtained, the better, but in the commercialpackaging an absolute vacuum is not obtained and some small pressure of air remains. This amount of air is so small that coflee packed in this manner hasjthe advantages heretofore recited. How- 'ever, to further guard against deterioration, I vmay by suitable-means before the coflee is com- *pre'ssed, displace the air present in the voids by carbondioxide or any gas which is not deleterious ,to the. coffee. In this event it isdesirable that ture of water and glycerine, which causes them V to swell somewhat. When the compressed coffeeunit is ejected from the discharge tube with'the the pressure of gas be reduced to such an exn a. residual pressure approximately atmospheric} 7 The p'acka'geinaccordancewith my invention, is attractive inappearance which is a distinct advantage, as this. market is highly competitive. It'is also strong and-admits of handling-in'the ordinary manner. 7 As 'thepackage is relatively cheap, coffee can be ret ail ed in small size packages, for exampleph'alf-pound'and smaller, without unduly enhancing the "saleprice.

In the process as illustrated and described above, the size of mold used is such as to produce a single unit with each ram. It'maybe desirable to so proportion the size of the molds that the compressed unit ejected from the discharge tubes embraced with its container may be of sufilcient length thatit may be subdivided later by cutting into shorter lengths, each of requisite beabout eleven inches.

proportions to form a suitable package. I have found that asuitabie size for pound packages is one and seven eighths inches diameter. The length of apound package of this diameter would For half pound and smaller sizes, I found one and five eighths inches a suitable diameter.-

and normally bulky material comprising an elongated cylindrical body of said material compressed to at least one-half of its normal volume and tending to expand upon the release of confining pressure, said body being confined in an insoluble tube of tough material which is impervious to air, easily cut and of film-like thickness, whereby said body is held under compression to form a hard solid unit, and closures for the end of said unit.

2. A package of finely divided, non-coherent and normally bulky material comprising an elongated cylindrical body of said material compressed to at least one-half of its normal volume r andtending to expand upon the release of conhas ning pressure; said body being confined in an insoluble tube of tough material which is imipervious to air, easily cut and or film-like thickness, whereby said body is held under compression to form a'hard solid unit, and closures for the i end of said unit, one of said closures comprising i a metal cap with a downwardlyextending resilient flange having an inwardly directed bead engaging the outer wall ofthe unit,

3. A package of finely divided, non-coherent" and normally bulky material comprising an elongated cylindrical body of said material compressed to at least one-half of its normal volume and tending to expand upon the release of ,confining pressure, said body being confined in an insoluble tube of tough material which shrinks upon being dried, is impervious to air, easily cut and of film-like thickness, whereby said body is held under compression to form a hard solid unit, and closures for the end of said unit.

4. A package of finely divided coffee comprising an elongated cylindrical body of said cofiee' compressed to at least one-half of its normal volume and tending to expand upon the release of confining pressure, said body being'co'nfined in a tube of tough material of film-like thickness whichis impervious to air, easily cut and composed of a cellulose product, whereby said body is held under pressure to form a hard solid unit, and closures for the end of said unit.

5. A package of finely divided coffee comprising an elongated cylindrical body of said cofiee compressed to at least one-half of, its normal volume and tending to expand upon the release of confining pressure, said body being confined in a tube of tough material of film-like thickness which is impervious to air, easily cut and com posed of a cellulose product, whereby said body is held underpressure to form a hard solidunit, and closures for the end of said uni-t, one of said closures comprising a metal cap with a downwardly extending flange having an inwardly directed bead engaging the outer wall of the unit.

JOHN w. BELL. 

